Only His Daughter Rosan Survived

Ahmed al-Siqali, a father of seven, left Gaza to work in Israel a week before the war began in October 2023. With the crossing closed, he remained trapped in the occupied West Bank, unable to return to his family for more than two years. In December 2023, an Israeli strike hit the home where his family was sheltering in Gaza City's al-Sahaba neighbourhood, killing six of his children. Only his daughter Rosan survived.

Last month, Israeli forces raided a compound in Qalqilya in the West Bank where he was staying with other Gaza labourers. He was detained for two weeks before being sent back to Gaza. "Returning to Gaza and embracing my family had been my dream, especially during my time in prison and after everything I was subjected to, al-Siqali told Middle East Eye.

"The torture and humiliation were so unbearable that every moment, I wished for death. "But I wanted to run away from that moment. I was terrified of seeing my wife and my daughter without my six children.

Before 7 October, Palestinians regularly travelled to Israel and the occupied West Bank for work under permits issued by the Israeli authorities, taking jobs in construction, agriculture and services. "I never imagined that the moment I said goodbye to my children before leaving to work in another part of our homeland would be the last moment I would ever spend with them, al-Siqali recalled. As the war began, he struggled to contact his family as communications repeatedly went down across Gaza.

On the rare occasions he reached them, his children pleaded with him to come back. "We want you beside us. We don't want work or money.

We just want you to be with us, they would say. On 8 December 2023, after numerous failed attempts, al-Siqali managed to contact his family using an eSIM. "In those few minutes, they were terrified, and my words couldn't protect them from their reality, he said.

"I had a terrible feeling. I asked my wife to write their names on their hands in case something happened to them. Then the call was cut off.

Minutes later, one of al-Siqali's relatives called. "He said the house where my family had been sheltering had been bombed. My wife and children had been caught in the strike.

Six of his seven children had been killed. "What kept me going was learning my wounded wife and daughter Rosan were pulled alive from the rubble. Separated from his family, al-Siqali spent his days looking at photographs and videos of his children.

He had bought a house near the sea in al-Sudaniya, north of Gaza City, hoping to fulfil his children's dream of living close to the beach. The house was later destroyed. Mohammed and Muhannad had dreamed of a large room.

The twins, Kinan and Rayan, and Basant dreamed of going on outings with their father. Eileen was only two months old when the attack happened. On 21 July, while speaking to his wife on WhatsApp, al-Siqali heard unusual movement outside and the sound of dogs.

Israeli forces raided the building and arrested all the workers inside, including al-Siqali. Two weeks later, he was released from Ofer prison and transferred back to Gaza alongside 23 other workers. "What did my children do to have their dreams taken away and be killed like this? he asked.